Winter Pictures

[Backbone Ranch]

Today was one of the few days that the sun has been out this winter, so I was able to get some photos of the cows this evening. Our first calves should start hitting the ground towards the end of February. The first calves will be AI sired, and then everything that was bred live cover will start calving the first week of March. We are expecting 4 AI calves from three different Murray Grey bulls, and then a total of around 35 calves from our two herd bulls. For the middle of winter, we are very happy with the way that things are looking.

OK Sadie- This cow is the best in our herd. She will be 16 years old this March and is pictured with her 4th consecutive heifer calf. Sadie is the mother of our primary herdsire, BB Uncle Tony, and has had a huge impact on our herd over the years. We will be breeding her back this summer for another calf. Her heifer calf had a 60 lb birth weight and is pictured again at 6 weeks.

BB Rose Marie- This is a 4 year old that is a full sibling to Sadie's current heifer calf. This cow is a Tony daughter.

And these are some more daughters of BB Uncle Tony. The first is a 4 year old. The second is a 20 month old heifer that is currently being bred for a fall 2019 calf. And the next photo shows a 7 1/2 month old heifer calf in the weaning pen. She is one of the six heifers that we retained from the spring calf crop.

BB Lady Rose- This heifer is a 2 1/2 year old daughter of OK Buford and a granddaughter of BB Uncle Tony. She was out of a first calf heifer and was AIed for her first calf.

WR Ruby- This cow is approaching 10 1/2 years and has raised a really nice calf for us every year. She was really something back in her prime. We are using one of her sons out of an AI sire as our heifer bull, but we will also be breeding him to a little over 20 head this summer.

And these are some more individuals that I thought I would share. These three are between 8 and 9 years old currently.

In order to maintain the darker pigmentation, we bred about a dozen females to a dark Murray Grey bull for calves this March. We also plan to use a dun AI sire over 4-5 females this summer. I am so used to seeing silver, that it will definitely be a novelty having more color variation in our calf crops.

 

[frieghttrain]

Darn good cattle! What bulls did you use? And who's the Dun sire?

 

[Backbone Ranch]

Darn good cattle! What bulls did you use? And who's the Dun sire?

We are expecting calves from Bimbadeen Innamincka's Star, Cadella Park Golden Boy, and Wallawong Under the Radar. The first two are older bulls, while Under the Radar is a more modern bull. This will be our first Innamincka's Star calf, our fourth and fifth out of Golden Boy, and our second from Under the Radar. I am really hoping for heifers out of Golden Boy because the one that we currently have in production is awesome. Her first calf was born small and grew into a tank by weaning. Under the Radar is pictured at 20 months in this particular picture. I have seen some terrific bulls from him in Ohio as well as some really good females.

And these were our two natural service sires, BB Uncle Tony and OK Boss II, pictured at 6 1/2 years and 3 years.

The dun bull that we plan to AI several cows to next year is Victory Power Play. I believe that he is 3 years old here. His sire is out of Australia and his dam was bought as an embryo from Australia as well.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

BBR - you said you are expecting 4 AI calves end of Feb then natural calves. Did you plan to breed only 4 AI or didn't have much luck with AI'ing the rest?

 

[frieghttrain]

Darn good cattle! What bulls did you use? And who's the Dun sire?

We are expecting calves from Bimbadeen Innamincka's Star, Cadella Park Golden Boy, and Wallawong Under the Radar. The first two are older bulls, while Under the Radar is a more modern bull. This will be our first Innamincka's Star calf, our fourth and fifth out of Golden Boy, and our second from Under the Radar. I am really hoping for heifers out of Golden Boy because the one that we currently have in production is awesome. Her first calf was born small and grew into a tank by weaning. Under the Radar is pictured at 20 months in this particular picture. I have seen some terrific bulls from him in Ohio as well as some really good females.

And these were our two natural service sires, BB Uncle Tony and OK Boss II, pictured at 6 1/2 years and 3 years.

The dun bull that we plan to AI several cows to next year is Victory Power Play. I believe that he is 3 years old here. His sire is out of Australia and his dam was bought as an embryo from Australia as well.

Glad to hear you got that cow stuck to Bimbadeen Innamincka's! Hoping for a bull or a hiefer? Sounds like it'll be quite the exciting calving season

 

[Backbone Ranch]

Jeanne- We bred a total of 13 cows by AI last summer, and I am fairly certain that only four of them took. We bred six cows to two different bulls with 1/4 cc straws, Monterey Marshall and Ballee Thumbs Up. We are now 1 for 7 with Monterey Marshall and 1 for 4 with Ballee Thumbs Up. I have been in touch with another Murray Grey breeder up in Idaho, and she has yet to have a calf from Monterey Marshall. She had a vet evaluate the straw, and it was only 20% motile. We will definitely double up on straws when we AI to Monterey Marshall again. I am not sure if the poor conception last year with Ballee Thumbs Up was a fluke, but the semen in the straw was very motile. We will likely need to try to breed a few more cows with it before we can make a better determination.

Freighttrain- We will honestly be very happy with whatever we get out of Innamincka's Star. He produced some stellar bulls and some gorgeous females back in the day. A friend of mine had some Innamincka's Star calves a few years back, and he really liked both the bull and heifer calves.

 

[Draper]

Last cow pictured in your first post -the one that is dead center- is as good a cow as has ever been posted on this site.

 

[TwoByrdsMG]

Is it worth your while to do a Monterey Marshall flush on a couple of your best cows? That way you can stick the embryos in whoever you have synced up and you get more bang for your buck instead of using the semen one straw at a time and having none stick?

FYI- Draper that is a fine cow. Long belly dragging broody cow. Dang near perfect!

 

[TwoByrdsMG]

Jeanne- We bred a total of 13 cows by AI last summer, and I am fairly certain that only four of them took. We bred six cows to two different bulls with 1/4 cc straws, Monterey Marshall and Ballee Thumbs Up. We are now 1 for 7 with Monterey Marshall and 1 for 4 with Ballee Thumbs Up. I have been in touch with another Murray Grey breeder up in Idaho, and she has yet to have a calf from Monterey Marshall. She had a vet evaluate the straw, and it was only 20% motile. We will definitely double up on straws when we AI to Monterey Marshall again. I am not sure if the poor conception last year with Ballee Thumbs Up was a fluke, but the semen in the straw was very motile. We will likely need to try to breed a few more cows with it before we can make a better determination.

Freighttrain- We will honestly be very happy with whatever we get out of Innamincka's Star. He produced some stellar bulls and some gorgeous females back in the day. A friend of mine had some Innamincka's Star calves a few years back, and he really liked both the bull and heifer calves.

Well at least I can say we have similar tastes in bulls. We bought semen from Wallawong Under the Radar and Victory Powerplay. Looks like I may only be getting 1 ampule or straw of Bimbadeen Innamincka's Star-- I will have to see if I can make that one stick. I have one cow that has exclusively been AI'd and sticks the first time every time- she will likely be bred using this straw. Got her lined up for one of my 2 straws of HA McKinley this year. She has produced 1 bull calf and 5 heifers so I think the odds are in my favor if I want heifers.

It so interesting that some of my best "cows" never settle to AI and need natural service. Tried to see if its just a timing issue by doing fixed time AI this go around.

 

[Backbone Ranch]

TwoByrdsMG- To be honest, I had not considered flushing to Monterey Marshall before. With semen at 20% motility, do you think that many eggs would get fertilized? Phenotypically and carcass wise, he would be my number one pick for AIing to and/or flushing if we could get more cows consistently bred by him. We have never flushed anything before, so my knowledge on the subject is pretty limited, but it is something that I have always wanted to try.
Good luck with your HA McKinley and Innamincka's Star matings down the line. Knock on wood, I do not think that we have had too many cows consistently not conceive by AI. We synchronize everything that we plan to AI, so our conception rates are not as good as if we bred on natural heats, but almost every cow that we have tried to AI has stuck at least once or twice in the last three attempts. The number 6 cow has taken two of the last three times that we AIed her, and the one time that she did not take, we tried to breed her with the Marshall semen. We are expecting a Tony calf out of her in two months. It will be the first time that she has been bred by him; if she has a really good calf with Tony, we will likely breed her back to him for next year. If the calf is not as good as she is, then we will AI her again and see if we can get a home run with an AI sire.

 

[TwoByrdsMG]

I have seen good results at 30% motility with the Willowdale West Wind. I was just thinking that if you put 2-3 straws in one cow at 12 hour intervals during a flush then you will get the best chance of embryos. And have cows sync up as receips at the same time. Fresh embryos settle better than frozen. See if you can find a local Embryo specialist in your area. We have a really good one here in Southern Oregon.

 

[OKJeanne]

Last cow pictured in your first post -the one that is dead center- is as good a cow as has ever been posted on this site.

She looks like OK Bee Happy---her sire and dam were sold to Crispin Murray Greys in Oklahoma.

 

[Backbone Ranch]

Last cow pictured in your first post -the one that is dead center- is as good a cow as has ever been posted on this site.

She looks like OK Bee Happy---her sire and dam were sold to Crispin Murray Greys in Oklahoma.

Good eye! That is OK Bee Happy. We have retained both of her daughters, and she is raising a really nice Monterey Marshall bull calf this year. Her full sister, OK Honey Comb, had a Ballee Thumbs Up son last year, and he is an absolute tank.

 

[OK Jeanne]

Last cow pictured in your first post -the one that is dead center- is as good a cow as has ever been posted on this site.

She looks like OK Bee Happy---her sire and dam were sold to Crispin Murray Greys in Oklahoma.

Draper: here is her dam, OK Honey Bee